


darling in the headlights

by sclerant (rufusrant)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: #SaveShadowhunters, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Malec, Mild Angst, Soft Malec, True Love, brief appearance of Insecure Alec Lightwood, but hopefully enough fluff to make up for it, definitely a bit surreal, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 08:33:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15020732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rufusrant/pseuds/sclerant
Summary: Alec undergoes a metamorphosis after a demon fight





	darling in the headlights

**Author's Note:**

> to my dear friend XL for putting up with me and all my garbage.
> 
> this is based off [Beast](https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=k8fEDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT37&lpg=PT37&dq=samantha+hunt+beast&source=bl&ots=yem3UzjG3c&sig=z8jBwzJf22LkZXw67h_p1Nz_Xi0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH6KmI4ujbAhUQcCsKHQZ7CVU4FBDoAQhCMAk#v=onepage&q=samantha%20hunt%20beast&f=false) by Samantha Hunt, published in [The Dark Dark](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31702762-the-dark-dark?from_search=true).
> 
> you don't have to have read the story before to understand this fic.

There is another tick on Alec’s arm. He scowls as he retrieves the tweezers from a drawer to pull it out. Jace, who’s in his office as well, rushes over and drops the files he’s sifting through.

“Don’t twist it-” says Jace, as Alec inches the tweezers ever so slightly- "The head's gonna stay in."

Alec swipes his tongue over his lip once and pulls the tick out quickly. A small protrusion sticks out from in between the tweezers, and Jace sighs in relief, relaxing freshly bandaged wrists on the desk. 

"It's my second one today," says Alec, rummaging in another drawer for something to seal the tick in. "How're your hands?"

"Better," says Jace. He moves to the door. "I'll get you some alcohol."

"Magnus has plenty-"

"No, for the tick bite!" Jace chuckles. "Those things carry disease. You're supposed to clean it. I'll be right back."

Alec sighs, dropping the tick into a small ziplock. The door clicks shut behind Jace and his office goes dead cold- a feeling that jolts him in his chair, like a sudden burst of wind through the dark window, sending files everywhere but he is stuck behind the desk with the struggling black tick. Alec drops the ziplock into the wastepaper bin with a shake of his head.

 

+

The loft is warm when Alec returns. Magnus kisses him a little differently, thumb rubbing at tears that are not yet on his cheeks, holding him close until they are too tight to breathe. Alec's breath catches a little in surprise when Magnus pulls away, looking uncharacteristically solemn. 

"Did something happen?"

Alec blinks. "No. What makes you say that?"

"You look a bit...off. Like something is bothering you." Magnus takes Alec's hand, gripping his fingers. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

A brief mental flash of the abrupt stillness in his office appears in the back of Alec's mind. It is a little unsettling now, that he thinks back on it- as if for one short moment his heart had been viable to the unexpected and the tick, so dark and full of life, determined to come for blood. Perhaps it had it been a deer tick? 

"No," Alec says again, resolute, gripping Magnus' fingers back and bringing them to his own lips. "Tell me about _your_ day." 

 

+

Magnus launches into hilarious impersonations of today's particularly fussy clients, and the grin on his face melts all of the quiet. He continues to hold Alec close, as though not entirely convinced, but Alec finds himself not minding. 

The rest of the night is as usual- they have a simple dinner, Alec texts Jace and Izzy to check on them (with a reminder for Izzy to rest early and run her tests on the corpse tomorrow), before climbing into bed at last. He's barely gotten comfortable before a scuttling feeling creeps up his knee-

and there it is, _another_ tick. 

"By the angel," Alec mutters under his breath. He reaches to swipe at it, but it embeds its head in his skin, and is too tiny to budge when Alec's hand sweeps over it. Magnus enters the room just as Alec takes the tick between his thumb and index and starts to pull. 

"Darling, what-"

"A _tick_ ," Alec spits. "I've been getting them all day-"

"Hold still, I'll grab the tweezers," Magnus throws the bathroom door open and Alec drops the tick. Its head is still in and its black legs move like butterfly kisses over the skin of his knee. The movements are small, invisble practically, but for some reason it is pushing Alec's blood around in its stream uncomfortably. The sounds of metal and plastic clinking as Magnus searches through the bathroom cabinets are amplified and the so are the scrapes of the tick's legs.

Magnus emerges from the bathroom, tweezers, pack of cotton and rubbing alocohol in hand. He drops them on the edge of the bed and hurries to Alec, who sticks out his leg- the sheets under him are balled tightly in his fists, as if it were going to be excruciating. 

Magnus steadies the tweezers over Alec's knee, free hand holding it in place. "Relax, relax. You're shaking. This'll only be a second- okay?"

Alec nods. Magnus dabs alcohol over his knee, presses the fine tips into his skin, tugs once, and it is out, leaving the tiniest spot of blood. He presses wet cotton over it. Alec exhales as he leans back and lets go of the sheets.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, darling," Magnus smirks. The tick is still kicking in the grip of the tweezers. 

Alec moves closer. "Is the head intact?"

"Yeah," Magnus conjures up a tissue, and traps the tick in its folds. "It's okay now."

Alec closes his eyes, and leans further back until his head hits the pillow. Magnus gets up and flushes the tick down the toilet. Alec can hear the text message ping of his phone, but he ignores it. He pulls the covers up to his chest.

"Did you roll around in grass?" Magnus asks when he returns and slips under the covers as well. There is a hint of laughter in his tone. 

"No," says Alec. "Well, I _fell_ on grass- so did Jace, and we stayed for a bit. The demon caught us off guard. But I'm not hurt-" he added, so Magnus wouldn't worry -"Jace however cracked _both_ his wrists landing." 

"Yikes."

"Yeah."

"Nasty demon. I'm just glad that you're okay," Magnus presses a kiss to the top of Alec's head. Alec burrows deeper and closer, smiling. 

 

+

A creeping feeling shakes Alec awake. He untangles himself from Magnus to sit up, and it is like the scuttling of tick legs, except now the number of ticks have multiplied dozen fold- an antsy feeling shrouds and clambers down the sides of his body, prickling fit to burst. _By the angel, the ticks are inside-_ but they are not, Alec's body is bare and there are no ticks, though his blood spikes and something is growing out of him from their bites like plants sprouting from dirt. 

The room is dark and the green glow from the alarm clock reads that it is barely four in the morning- and Alec's body is not his. An overwhelming wave of heat washes over him, a wave so hot that his fingers and toes fuse together and his lips dry till they are thick. Magnus grunts in his sleep and his hands search for Alec, but the sound is alien and Alec is surprised to find himself drawing backwards, hand in front himself- except his hand is gone. 

In its place is a shiny black hoof. Alec wants to scream, but his tongue is not his, it is long and smacks against his teeth. His mouth is dry as a bone and tight, as if there are tweezers pulling on them. His mind is racing and yet in a fog. He steps off the bed as quietly as he can, and his hooves clatter softly against the floor. 

 

_

The demon had been in the woods, hovering over a deer corpse when they'd found it, possibly just after it had finished feeding.

It howls grusomely as Alec's arrow strikes it straight in the shoulder blade. It comes after him. Jace jumps on its back and sticks his seraph blade into the center of its neck, but it does not disintegrate. It lets out another roar and throws Jace straight into grass and leaf litter. There is a snap, and Jace's own shout of pain. Alec lowers his bow to run over to him, but the demon is suddenly in his way, blinding hot, white bursts of light in its fingers that are flung into Alec's path-

It takes a moment for Alec to realise that he is lying in grass and leaf litter as well, and that Jace is swinging his blade haphazardly at the demon. Alec's breathing is heavy as he clambers in the grass one-handedly for his bow. He quickly draws an arrow and fires it into the demon's head as it falls from Jace's hit and disintegrates with a hiss. Jace falls against a tree trunk. Alec rushes over, grabbing his stele from his pocket.

Jace's wrists hang limply, dripping fresh blood. Alec quickly traces an iratze on him, and waits for his breathing to calm. Alec slumps next to him after Jace is able to push himself up, and brushes bits of grass from his own hair. 

"Are you okay? It hit you," says Jace, swiping a leaf off Alec's shoulder. 

"It didn't _hit_ me- well, uh, not exactly. I feel fine." 

"You sure?"

"Yeah." A flash of the blinding lights from the demon's hands appear, but he shrugs it off. 

Jace suddenly reaches over and smacks him hard on the elbow. 

" _Ow!_ What the-"

"You've got something there-"

Alec brings his elbow close, and there _is_ something on it- a black, impossibly tiny little tick. He makes to swipe it off. 

Jace pulls a face at the smoldering bits of deer cartilage in the leaf litter. "We'll have to take that back to the Institute." 

 

_

Alec is on all fours, and he has antlers, dangling heavily over his new pointed snout.

 _It was those demon's lights,_ he thinks, and _I'm a stag because I'm male._ Magnus is still asleep, and Alec's heart is beathing fast against his new stag ribs. He moves closer again, still on the floor, but until his snout is right above Magnus, standing over like a guardian. He inches cautiously towards Magnus' head and presses his dry new lips in his hair, as softly as he can, holding his breath in case Magnus wakes up- 

Magnus' breathing is the same as always- and Alec is so relieved. 

 

+

There are hands cradling his head, and light streaks on their ceiling. "Darling?"

Alec blinks. Magnus is kneeling over him,with a worried look. He can no longer see his snout. He licks his lips and they are soft, and he is himself again.

"Did you fall off the bed?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think. I'm okay. Just really tired."

"You work too hard." Magnus' voice is soft.

Alec sighs. He reaches up and their lips meet, and Magnus' thumb is at Alec's cheek again, gentle as ever, blissful.

 

+

Alec checks his phone only when he reaches the Institute. There's unread messages from Izzy:

_The deer's flesh is a mundane's. It's transfigured. Probably some new kind of demon_

_I know u said to sleep early, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  duty calls_

_Sorry big bro_

 

+

The day flies by, and Alec fills out reports because there are no emergencies or attacks to see to. Jace's bandages are still on and Izzy continues running her tests. He pulls two ticks out of his skin before heading home and cleans the bites himself.

Last night is vivid in his mind and rooted into his heart- a metamorphosis that only changed him physically for the night, but changed something else in a irrevocable sort of way. Alec has no name for it either.

He ponders on how to tell Magnus- what if it would kill him? Perhaps it was some kind of curse? Why deer, out of all animals? And what if Magnus woke up and saw a _stag_ in their bed? 

 _He won't judge,_ Alec thinks, over and over again, as he opens the door to the loft. _There's definitely a way to fix it. Magnus loves me._

"Magnus?" says Alec, stepping into the foyer. 

"Alexander!" Magnus' voice is cheerful. "I'm in the kitchen, I'll be there in-"

"I turned into a stag last night."

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> aND #SAVESHADOWHUNTERS OH MY GOD-


End file.
